


The Virtue Of Greed

by thepetulantpen



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death Fix, F/M, Gen, Mild Gore, Temporary Character Death, but it's mainly vex's pov so what did you expect, just in the description of the big bad, relationships are mainly background, somewhat negative depiction of RQ
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-02 10:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19439164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepetulantpen/pseuds/thepetulantpen
Summary: “One of the first things people will tell you about Vex is that she’s greedy.”In which Vex will stop at nothing to bring Vax back.





	The Virtue Of Greed

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, quick warning: I describe an undead monster that contains some mild gore and/or body horror. I don't think it's terribly graphic, but if you're squeamish it may safer for you to skip it!

One of the first things people will tell you about Vex is that she’s greedy. 

They’ll tell you about the haggling or the money managing or the _broom_ ( _gods_ the broom). They’ll call her annoying, selfish, rude. 

They’ll say she’s determined to pay the lowest price, to have her cake and eat it too. 

And they’ll be right, sort of. 

If she could, Vex would buy the world (at a discount, of course) and she would split it amongst her family. She would give Percy all the world’s love, Pike all the world’s compassion, Keyleth all the world’s strength, Scanlan all the world’s inspiration, Grog all the world’s victory, and Vax all the world’s life. 

She’s never settled for less than the absolute best for the people she loves, and she’s certainly not going to now. 

It’s not enough for her to have Percy, if she can’t have her brother too. It’s not enough to watch Keyleth hold her head high for her people, if Vax is missing at her side. 

It’s not enough that they saved the nation, the continent, the world, because they couldn’t save Vax. 

No victory is _enough_ if it means any of her family, blood or otherwise, has to sacrifice. 

Maybe it’s those instincts, that _greed_ , that have brought her to the steps of the Raven Queen’s temple. 

She has a goal in mind and she’s not going to let any sense of decorum stop her as she brushes past worshippers and priests alike to push as far into the center of the temple as she can. 

Living with a title alongside Percy has taught her many things, one of those things being how to walk like nobody can stand in your way. She’s learned how to walk past people like they owe her a debt, like she’s on her way to demand a favor because _maybe_ everyone in this _damn_ city does owe her a favor. Maybe she needs to be repaid for her sacrifice- her _temporary_ sacrifice. 

The priestess watching over the inner chamber scurries away at one look from Vex, so she’s left to her own devices, standing before a statue of the Matron of Ravens and her pool of blood. 

As she looks up at the mask, and into the empty eyes that stare at her from beyond the veil, her thoughts spin, a hurricane of offers and counteroffers going through her head. 

Vex is not Vax. She is a haggler and she isn’t planning on paying a fair price, so she does not intend to put her life on the line, as Vax was so eager to. There must be something else she can trade, some other service she can provide. 

A hand lands on her shoulder, gentle and careful. Vex turns her head only enough to identify its owner, not committed to giving them her full attention. 

“Vex’ahlia? Do you need any help?”

Lieve. Figures. 

Vex sighs, giving one last glare at the mask, unresponsive to her presence. 

“Yes. Yes, I think you can help me.”

...

“Do you know where Vex is?”

Scanlan stops playing his flute, annoyed to be interrupted _again_.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Why would I know?”

Percy crosses his arms and glares down at Scanlan, as if that little tantrum would have any effect. Scanlan gives him an unimpressed look and Percy frowns, irritated to see Scanlan won’t eagerly jump to his aid. 

_You would think he’d learn, after all these years of knowing me._

“Who else asked you?”

“Keyleth. Swung by earlier, said they had plans and she never showed. Weird.”

It is weird. Vex isn’t _that_ forgetful, and surely Keyleth would’ve looked herself before asking Scanlan, so if even she couldn’t find her... 

_Where in the hells could she be?_

“Come with me, we’re going to go find her.”

Percy turns on a heel, _expecting_ to be followed and he’s not wrong- Scanlan gets up in a hurry, tucking away his instruments and struggling to keep up with Percy’s longer strides.

“What? I’ve got plans today I can’t just-“ he huffs and jogs to catch up, winded from Percy intentionally walking too fast, “What do you expect me to do? I’m not exactly an expert in, oh, I don’t know, _scrying_?”

“You’ve been living here for free for at least two weeks, you owe me more than a day of labor.” 

“Don’t I get a family discount?”

Percy gives him a mean side-eye, face set in a worried frown, but at Scanlan’s playful grin he relaxes a bit and slows his pace. He’s sure Vex couldn’t have gotten into too much trouble in the few hours since they’ve woken up. Nothing that Vox Machina can’t handle, anyway. 

“It’ll take an afternoon, at most. Where could she have gone, really?”

...

Vex has no idea where she is. 

It’s dark.

And quiet.

Dark enough that she can’t see her hands, only feel Lieve’s squeezing hers lightly, tugging her another direction. She has no idea how Lieve is navigating, since there’s no way she can see any better than Vex, but she trusts in her confidence because she has nothing else to trust on this foreign plane. 

This is not normal darkness, easily penetrated by dark vision. This is something else entirely, something that breathes, and weighs down the air around them. This darkness is almost like a blanket, except instead of being fuzzy and warm it radiates cold, piercing through their skin like packs of ice bound to their arms. 

“Lieve?” Vex’s voice comes out in a whisper, subconsciously adapting to the quiet. 

“Quiet,” Lieve’s voice is barely a murmur, a subtle suggestion of noise in the silence, “we don’t want anything to hear us.”

Well, that’s just terrifying. Especially considering Vex has no idea what might be listening to them and couldn’t possibly see whatever it is coming. She briefly wonders if this is how Percy feels when they move through dark places then waves the thought away, not wanting to think about Percy and how worried he must be after she disappeared without a word. 

She supposes it’s ironic that she’s gone off on a dangerous mission to buy Vax back without consulting the team— the same transgression she used to yell at him for the most. At the thought of Vax, tears fill her eyes and she doesn’t bother to wipe them, they can’t make her vision any _worse_ , at this rate. 

Lieve is still functionally invisible but Vex feels her hand tense and assumes the rest of her is doing the same. If Lieve, who can potentially see or at least knows her way around, is apprehensive of something in front of them then Vex should be scared for her life. She’s starting to think she might regret agreeing to this deal with death. 

“I think it’s just ahead,” Lieve hesitates, pause hanging palpably in the air and making a distinctly different impression than her typical slow pacing, “Are you ready?”

Vex swallows, steeling herself.

...

Vax stares into the Abyss and sees a spitting image of himself staring back. A spitting image of himself, wearing a blue dress and form fitting armor. 

_Vex, what the hell are you doing?_

“Vax’ildan? What’re you-“ 

Vax spins around, straightening from his position bent over the black pool that scries into the Abyss and trying not to look like a kid with their hand stuck in the cookie jar. The Raven Queen is looming behind him, towering at twice his height, expressionless mask staring through him. She always manages to sneak up on him.

“Ah,” her height makes it unnecessary but she leans over his shoulder anyway, peering at the image of Vex’s terrified face reflected in the pool, “isn’t this a bit of a breach of privacy?”

“She’s my sister. We don’t keep secrets.” 

Vax knows that’s not true and the Raven Queen knows that’s not true, but he doesn’t care because his sister could be down there _dying_ on some stupid quest for some stupid goddess and Vax can’t just sit around doing nothing. He could at least look out for her and if it gets too dire... well, he’s never exactly been averse to bending rules for family. 

“Vax’ildan, she agreed to this.”

Vax wants to stay in her good side, he really does, but- “She shouldn’t have. She’ll die fighting that thing.”

The Raven Queen’s mask doesn’t change, but her height does, shrinking down to stand just a little taller than Vax. Always taller, always more powerful. She puts a hand on his shoulder and he turns his head to face her, reluctantly. 

“She respected your choice, you should respect hers, no?”

Vax has never known the Raven Queen to be outright malicious- never considered her evil, or anything ridiculous like that- but at this moment he sees what he’s sure his sister saw when she learned of Vax’s deal. Greed. A willingness to wager the most important thing a mortal has for the world’s safety, yes, but also for an uncontested seat of power. 

He glances down at the pool once more, seeing his sister creeping towards the entrance of the cave housing that terrible thing- she probably doesn’t even know _what_ she’s going to be fighting- and then closes his eyes, letting a different kind of darkness swallow up his sister. 

Vague images of what he knows is buried within the Abyss play across his eyelids, showing him the mortal mind’s approximation of what Vex will face. For Vax, his imagination supplies a huge tentacled beast, made of shadows and rotting flesh, but he knows that it is less a beast and more a _force_ , gathered and condensed enough to take a shape. Not quite a god, not quite a Vecna, but a wave of energy just below the surface of the planes, pushing against the current of nature. It is a source of undeath, one of the massive wells that necromancers are said to tap into, one of the only ones ever located. 

It is everything the Raven Queen hates, the only thing that could ever threaten her throne. It could theoretically be destroyed. It could theoretically destroy everything. 

His _sister_ is walking towards that thing and hoping that a damn _arrow_ will do the trick. 

Why couldn't she have brought the others and at least given herself a better chance? If she was so intent on doing this _stupid_ , dangerous thing?

_No_ , a younger voice of his, of reckless youth, supplies, _They would just complicate things. Convince her to go home and grieve_.

_At least_ , a whispering, rational part of his mind says, _Lieve is with her_. 

He hopes that Lieve’s prayers will keep him sane as he waits for news of Vex’s success or, gods forbid, failure. He hopes that his gift, the piece of himself he gave when he first met her after Pandemonium, and her own talents will be enough to keep them alive. 

_Alive. That’s all I ask, just stay alive._

Vax lets the Raven Queen take his shoulder and steer him away from the pool. 

...

Lieve is worried. She knows grief, she sees it every day at the temple, as is the nature of the place, and she’s felt it, you can’t live centuries without losing people. Grief is an old companion haunting her door at the most unexpected moments so she knows what it can do to people. She knows what it’s doing to Vex and she’s _worried_.

She’s worried that this “deal”, despite Vex’s best intentions, will end up being another soul for a soul trade she’s seen too many times. 

Vex’s pulse is fast against Lieve’s fingers grasping her wrist and pulling her cautiously forward. She’s right to be scared; Lieve has a bit better idea of what they’re up against than Vex does, and it is _not good_. 

They should not have agreed to this. But, a debt is a debt and a deal is a deal. 

Lieve continues forward, slowly, cautiously… _reluctantly_ , if she’s being honest.

The wall they’ve been following ends before she’s ready, before she’s said her final prayers, and she’s forced to peek around the corner to see firsthand the being that will likely deliver her to her final resting place at the side of the Raven Queen. 

In the center of the chamber rests a sphere of shadows, form vague and wavering but remaining around the size of an inn. Lieve blinks and her vision focuses a little, allowing the shadows to take shape. 

It’s a mound of bodies, all grey and near skeletal with only paper-like skin stretched over their gaunt forms. Their mouths are opened in silent wails, the sound swallowed up by the great nothingness around them. 

Some of them are familiar, faces long gone from her life, shorter lived beings that expired in one of her centuries. Others are no longer humanoid, bodies decayed and mutated, with missing limbs or extra features. Filling in the gaps are independent body parts, grasping hands, kicking legs, and dozens of eyes blinking through the grey. 

They are all bound together as one massive beast, with no indicator of where one body ends and another begins. 

Something moves inside the mass of bodies, slithering through the tiny spaces between unfused limbs. Slowly, tendrils untangle and slap onto the ground, limp. A grey circle in the center of the bodies twitches and Lieve realizes it’s a giant eyelid. 

The whole creature, if it can be called a creature, is _big_ , much bigger than she’d predicted, grown since the last time anybody bothered to manage it. Their impossible task grows a little more impossible with each passing second.

Vex must hear Lieve’s tense inhale because her hand adjusts to hold Lieve’s, squeezing tight enough to leave fingernail marks on the back of her hand. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Vex is whispering, her words barely more than well-timed exhales, but they might as well be gunshots in the silent, still atmosphere. The creature shifts in the chamber, a few more tendrils unraveling and the giant eye opening halfway. 

Lieve turns in a panic and pushes Vex back, pressing both of them against the wall. She covers her mouth with her hand to muffle her breathing and, a moment later, hears Vex do the same. 

There are more shifting noises in the chamber, soft squelching that is _loud_ compared to the silence they’d suffered on the way there. Lieve knows they can’t put this off any longer, they must do what they’ve been asked to do, what they’ve agreed to do. They should act before the beast acts for them. 

Lieve slips her hand into her pocket, careful to not even ruffle the fabric of her cloak for fear of making any sound. Luckily, she keeps the item she is searching for within easy reach- a single black feather, a blessing from Vax when she met him during her brief death in the great halls of their Lady. She clutches it like a lifeline and tries to focus on what he told her, commanded her, to do. 

_“Protect Vex, at any cost. That is my final wish.”_

She looks up at the endless oblivion above them, not sky or ceiling but _emptiness_ , and sends off one last prayer, not sure it will even make it out of this abyss and reach Her chambers. Lieve prays to Her champion, to _their_ champion, and asks for whatever help they can get. For his sister, for his worshippers. One last heroic act, one last sacrifice, no matter how unfair it is for her to ask that of him. 

Lieve takes a deep breath and hopes that it is not yet her time to die. 

They move around the corner and enter the chamber, face to face with undeath itself. 

...

Keyleth is, to put it lightly, flipping the fuck out. 

While Vex may not have the best memory, it’s unusual for her to totally flake on plans, especially when Keyleth reminded her about this yesterday. Rationally, Keyleth knows that Vex may have just gotten caught up doing something else, but the lack of communication and her apparent absence from her usual places in the castle gives Keyleth a bad feeling. 

Keyleth has done too many stupid things and lost too much to ignore bad feelings now, no matter how irrational they seem and no matter how extreme her responses may appear. 

When scrying doesn’t work, she doesn’t know _what_ to think but none of the options are good. 

Is Vex actively avoiding Keyleth and going off on her own to do something stupid? Is she under a force that blocks the divination, kidnapped or worse? 

Is she still on this plane?

It’s been less than a _week_ since they retrieved Grog, Keyleth would think that they could have at least _one_ peaceful week after saving the world but _no_ , Vox Machina is determined to give Keyleth grey hairs a few centuries early. 

Scanlan hasn’t seen Vex all day, despite his current residency at the castle, and Keyleth supposes she should’ve waited to ask Percy too, but she’s too filled with nervous energy to sit in one place. Nervous energy that eventually brings her hiking up the steps to Pike’s temple, hoping the Everlight follower may shed some light on the situation. 

“Have you seen Vex?”

Pike looks up from the ABC book she and Grog are pouring over, her eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion. She shakes her head slowly and looks at Grog, who shrugs and follows suit. 

“No? Why, has something happened?” She sounds worried but resigned, like she knew they wouldn’t manage to stay out of trouble, even after they officially retired. 

“She missed our brunch plans and now I can’t even scry on her- what if she’s out of reach, somehow? What if—“

The doors Keyleth burst through moments before slam open again, revealing a frazzled Percy and a less concerned Scanlan trailing just behind him. 

“Pike, have you seen Vex?” He pulls up short, boots nearly sliding against the smooth tiles, “Oh, Keyleth, you’re already here.”

“ _You_ don’t know where she is either?” Keyleth pushes her hair back, running her fingers through it in nervous frustration. 

Pike stands, putting her hands up in a placating gesture. “Now, I’m sure there’s an explanation—“

“Yeah, maybe she’s just buying, like, a surprise gift or somethin.”

Percy glares at Grog for his suggestion and the argument starts in full force, prompting the four of them to sling baseless theories and increasingly incoherent fears between them with reckless abandon. 

Scanlan zones out as they panic back and forth, not bothering to add to the conversation since nobody’s paying attention to him anyway. He’s pretty sure Vex can handle herself, wherever she is, but he has to admit that everyone else’s behavior is starting to make him nervous. Maybe she _is_ in danger.

No, it’s useless to even consider that with so little information- for all they know _Grog_ could be right at this point. He diverts his attention from the rising panic of the room and focuses instead on the nagging feeling in the back of his head he’s had since they got here. He knows from experience that unraveling mystery emotions is never a very good idea and usually only causes him pain, but he does it anyway, in case it turns out to be important. 

There’s something _missing_ , his mind says, as he looks around the group. He’s ready to dismiss the thought, figuring that it’s just more grief to put away for later, for the sleepless night, but his thoughts insist. There’s something _missing_. 

He looks up, counting the shadows of party members that tower over him. He’s down two twin silhouettes and...

_Oh!_

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but where’s the damn bear?”

...

Trinket is having an exceptionally boring day. He’s been locked in a room for _hours_ , pacing around and around as he waits for Vex to get back. 

She _promised_ she’d be back but she didn’t say when and it’s past lunchtime already. 

He huffs, wishing Percy or another member of the pack was here to play with him while Vex is away. He misses Vax, who would bring him cookies when Vex was busy, and wishes he hadn’t gone away. But mostly, he wishes that Vex would come back.

The door handle rattles and Trinket recognizes the harsh sound of people curses. While he can’t fully understand the words, he’s deduced their meaning based on the way his people almost growl around them, angry and frequent in their family. It takes a while, but it’s Percy who finally manages to open the door, followed by everyone else except Vex. 

Trinket grunts unhappily. Any day without Vex is a bad day. 

His family is arguing, he can tell by the frowning and how the sounds overlap each other as they fight to be heard and speak over everyone else. Keyleth is gesturing to Trinket over and over while Scanlan crosses his arms, mouth twisted in a grimace. Trinket puts his head down, wishing he could drown out the noise, and he must miss the conclusion of the argument because now Scanlan is walking forward, hands out. 

Strange, Scanlan never wants to pet Trinket. Or at least he pretends not to, especially when they’re not alone. Maybe he’s just as sad about Vex disappearing as Trinket is. Maybe he’d like to be cheered up. 

Scanlan is talking, which is silly because he must know that Trinket can’t understand him. The bear lumbers forward and gives Scanlan a kiss, tongue catching in his hair and spiking it up. Everyone laughs when Scanlan scowls but he doesn’t stop talking or waving his hands in front of Trinket. Trinket just watches, trying to figure out what Scanlan wants if not a kiss. 

He _is_ talking a little weird, noises flowing together in strange patterns and cadence shifting up and down. Trinket’s trying to recognize some of the words or remember when he’s heard this kind of speech before, when suddenly Scanlan stops, mouth closing and hands stilling. 

Magic floods over Trinket, through him, but it’s unfamiliar. Not a cool breeze like Vex’s, or a bright warmth like Pike’s, or a rush of heat like Keyleth’s. No, it’s like sparks running through his fur, lighting up in bursts of purple that drift down around his head. 

“Trinket? Do you know where Vex is?”

Trinket blinks a few times, adjusting to the spell. It’s a familiar effect- the world gets a little brighter, sounds a little clearer, and, obviously, he can understand words now- but he doesn’t think Scanlan has ever cast it on him before. 

He wonders why Scanlan is casting it now instead of Keyleth, but Trinket isn’t sure he’d really understand the reason if he knew anyway; anytime Vex tried to explain magic to him it went right over his head. Regardless, it’d be interesting to talk to Scanlan and ask him why he never wants to play or why he’s always pretending he doesn’t like Trinket. 

Scanlan’s foot taps impatiently, cutting short Trinket’s thoughts. He seems pretty rushed, like he has important business to do, and since it involves Vex, Trinket is more than happy to help. 

“She said she’d be back.”

“Back from _where_?”

Trinket shuffles back and forth, conflicted. He wants to help Scanlan and the rest of his family but...

“Vex said not to tell.”

Scanlan frowns and turns back to Keyleth, who says something Trinket can’t understand. 

“Listen, Trinket,” Scanlan takes a reluctant step forward, tilting his head up to meet Trinket’s eyes, “It’s very important that we know where she is. She could be in danger.”

Trinket lays down, putting his head on his paws. This is hard. He doesn’t want to disobey Vex, but he wants her to come home even more. He doesn’t know what he’d do if he lost his favorite person in the whole world, he’s already hurting enough after losing Vax. 

She _has_ to come home. Maybe Scanlan can help. 

...

Vex doesn’t exactly _regret_ her decision but she does find herself wishing that she had asked a few more questions before diving straight into the Abyss. 

Maybe if she had pressed the Raven Queen for more information or even found out what _exactly_ they were being sent to destroy, she wouldn’t be ensnared in a writhing tentacle at the moment. 

Or maybe these things are inevitable. Who can say, really? 

Would it really have mattered if Vex had understood the scale of this beast, if she had even understood that it would be a beast at all? Would anything have stopped her from jumping at any offer for her brother’s resurrection? 

She’s supposed to be a _haggler_ , dammit, but Vax is always screwing up her carefully constructed plans. Even in death. 

As the tentacle slowly strangles her, Vex comes to the satisfying conclusion that this is _not_ her fault. How the fuck could she have known that “destroy the well of undeath” meant fight a giant tentacle monster? 

She supposes it wouldn’t really be fair to call it a tentacle monster. If anything, the flailing appendage would be most accurately described as a simple tendril, featureless, slender, and slimy. There aren’t all that many tendrils either; the only visible ones are the one that’s grabbed Vex and the ones swiping at Lieve. 

The _creature_ , if it even is a creature, looks like the corpse of an enormous raven, but it’s mangled almost beyond recognition, identified only by the large black feathers sticking out of its goopy flesh. The tendrils emerge like worms from the bird’s skull, blending in alongside a number of other pulsing, twitching, squirming maggots covering the corpse. 

She can see, now that she’s gotten up close and personal with the _thing_ and that Lieve’s light spells are casting a dim glow over the chamber, that it is not actually a giant corpse littered with bugs, but only takes the shape of one. Everything- the flashes of bone, frayed feathers, liquefied flesh, and wriggling maggots- is melded together, details carved into a single body of indistinct matter as opposed to being separate parts.

It makes the top ten of the most fucked up, unsettling things she’s ever seen, and she’s seen a lot of fucked up things. It’s almost as if someone took a blob of this dark, necrotic material and put it in a mold of Vex’s greatest nightmare. She gets the vaguest sense that it’s somehow not real, too specific to her own current worries to serve as an all-purpose monster. 

The tendril reels her in, towards the feathers and flesh below her. They are made of the void and they threaten to swallow her up as the darkness of the Abyss sweeps into her mind, silencing all thoughts of struggling against the unrelenting grip of death. 

_I’m sorry, Vax. I’m sorry, Percy._

_I’m sorry, Vox Machina. I’ve failed you._

A gunshot pierces through the near silence of the room, echoing against the high chamber walls. It’s _loud_ , easily shattering the tense, quiet atmosphere. It makes Vex’s ears ring and her hands come up instinctively to cover them. 

Her _hands_. They’re covered in the gross black substance of the creature but they’re _free_ as the tendril loosens its grip then drops her, recoiling from the sound and retracting back into the corpse, writhing amongst the feathers. 

The noise hurts Vex too, ears reluctant to readjust to the noise of Vox Machina after so much quiet, but the pain isn’t enough to override her sense of self-preservation. As soon as her feet hit the ground she’s running, focusing all her energy on getting out of range of those tendrils.

The chamber is full to the bursting with noise now: Grog’s roar, the clang of Pike’s armor, the crackle of Keyleth’s fire, a thunder clap from Scanlan’s lighting, and, of course, Percy’s gunshots. 

Across the room, on the other side of the monster, Vex makes eye contact with Lieve, who’s bleeding but still on her feet. She holds out her hand and a flash of light hits the creature, burning away a portion of its undead flesh. 

Vex feels more comforted by Lieve’s presence than she thought she would, grateful to have a supporting force in the fight for Vax. Lieve, she’s learned, is just as passionate, if a bit quieter and calmer, about her mission as Vex. 

It still stings to see the familiar mannerisms and similar features, but it doesn’t hurt as much as it did weeks ago. Now, it feels like having Vax here, backing her up through Lieve. 

As Vex watches, shadows coalesce around Lieve, cast off from the holy light she holds, and form a set of indistinct black wings on her shoulders. 

Vex blinks and it’s gone but she doesn’t have time to think about divine signs or any bullshit like that. She reaches the back of the group, pulling up beside Percy’s position. He’s concentrating on the scope, taking down the tendrils one by one with explosive bursts of bullets, but he spares a moment to look up and give her a crooked grin. She can barely hear him over the report of his rifle, but he mutters a quick “Hello, darling” before taking another shot. 

Kneeling next to him, she readies her bow and does her thing, aiming for all the weak spots she saw in her brush with death. Or undeath. Whatever this thing does. 

An arrow plants itself at the base of a tendril, in the meat of a false maggot, and in the eye socket of the bird’s skull. Vines unravel from their shafts, stubbornly taking hold of the dead flesh, its only soil. Green spreads over black, slowly overtaking the beast even when the touches of undeath turn the vine’s leaves to grey and crushes them into ash. 

Her hits land less accurately than she would like them to, with the darkness hindering her ability to discern parts of the beast from the rest of the shadows filling the chamber. It’s almost like being surrounded by a thick, pure black smoke, the light spells do their best to filter through it and Keyleth’s fire eats away at parts of it but the majority of the fog remains. Vex has to squint to see through any of it, her dark vision useless here. 

An unfamiliar shout draws Vex’s attention away from her careful aim. The beast is bearing down on Lieve, a blob of darkness from its body pushing against the light she holds. She doesn’t stop fighting, sending off several easily snuffed bursts of light, even as the darkness piles onto her, forcing her to buckle under its weight. 

Six seconds pass and Vex is standing a few feet away, Percy’s shouts fading into the distance and Vex’s own common sense screaming in the back of her mind. 

None of it matters because Vax is in danger—

No, no _Lieve_ is in danger. Her terrified face comes into focus, wiping away the image of Vax’s grin that Vex’s mind had conjured. 

Lieve gasps as Vex tackles her and pushes her out from under the monster, but Vex doesn’t pay it any mind as she spins around, brings her bow up, and lets go. 

The beast gets an arrow in its ugly mouth- just a ring of teeth emerging from the black sludge- and it is _not happy_ about that. 

It _roars_ , sound louder than Vex thought would be possible for a creature that resides in the silent Abyss. The darkness, void, flesh, whatever, surges around her like a wave, forgetting the form of the bird corpse in order to become fluid enough to attempt to wall Vex in. She fires another arrow in the circle of teeth but it gets stuck in the slimy substance and the beast absorbs it, not letting her attacks distract it from the task of consuming its prey. 

There’s just a sliver of a gap in the wall of shadows around her but Vex dives for it, knowing that there’s little hope for her if she becomes absorbed in this thing. As the walls close in and press up against her, she can hear wails coming from inside it, the voices of the restless dead fueling this necrotic toxin. She _needs_ to escape, needs to make sure she doesn’t become another victim of this thing, deep below where even the Raven Queen can’t reach her. 

If she fails, if this poison she’s been tasked to eradicate takes over her, she may never see Vax again. Not in death or in life. 

Something flickers to life in her head, the dying flame of her determination suddenly fanned into a raging fire. She hears ravens cawing, smells blood, and sees Lieve’s face, mouth moving in prayer. Muscles she didn’t think would ever move again are reenergized and all her pain seems to disappear as a divine blessing races through her veins, giving her the strength for one last ditch effort. 

Vex pushes through the wall, managing to get a hand through before the void closes in, sludge viscous and thick around her. It slows her down, like swimming in syrup, and she’s about ready to accept that she won’t be able to force her way through when she hears her earring crackle to life.

It’s not clear, not like it normally is. She has to concentrate to hear the voice, a mere echo from times long gone. 

Vax is shouting _Jenga! Jenga! Jenga!_ It’s a memory, repeating the same sound over and over again, but he’s _laughing_ and Vex would cry if her eyes weren’t closed against the slime. 

She can’t hear anything else, the battle is completely drowned out by the thing all around her, plugging up her ears with silence once more. 

She doesn’t hear the weapons sinking into the beast’s flesh but she _does_ feel the impact as the sort-of liquid around her shifts around their mass. It takes her a few seconds- and the echo of Vax’s laughter in her ear- to realize exactly what they are.

Three daggers, sharply cutting through the creature that holds Vex. 

_“Dagger, dagger, dagger!”_

It shrieks, the sound and the _despair_ that accompanies it filling Vex’s head, and shrinks back, allowing her just enough space to push the rest of the way out and fall on her face on the other side. She knows she shouldn’t but she forgoes standing to push herself up and turn back, looking for the daggers she _knows_ are there, the daggers she _felt_. A shiny hilt sticks out of the dark flesh for a second before it’s swallowed up in the ripples of the dying beast.

She doesn’t bother to stand again, just props herself up on the ground, in a puddle of sludge, and fires her last arrow. 

Fenthras’ aim is true and the arrow lands between a set of eyes on the shadow, bramble latching onto whatever material it can reach. 

Lieve’s magic sears a hole straight through the middle of the beast, Percy’s bullet slams into its side, Grog’s axe cleaves off a whole wedge of flesh, Keyleth’s wildfire turns edges of it to ash, and the last note of Scanlan’s song stings, making it flinch backward into Pike’s waiting sacred flame. 

The beast, this great source of undeath that’s more a force than a thing that can be killed, has been diminished to the size of an apple, squirming on the ground. They’ve managed to nearly destroy the thing that defies death itself, untouched by even the Raven Queen. 

Vex sits stunned on the ground, staring at what’s left, until Lieve extends a hand and she takes it, letting her new friend help her to her feet. At the touch, she feels some of the aches in her body disappear and some of her cuts close. Lieve’s healing is cold, like ice, but it spreads relief through her wounds all the same.

Vex and Lieve step forward in unison, catch each other’s eye, nod, and stamp their boots down on what’s left of the monster at the same time. It bursts and the fluid dissolves into the ground, eroding the dirt until it has nothing left of itself to burn. 

Vex is exhausted and her voice is hoarse from the whiplash it’s gone through in switching from whispering to screaming but she holds out her hand for Lieve to shake and says, “We did it.” 

Lieve takes her hand and shakes it firmly, grip less polite and more familiar after the battle they’ve shared. It’s hard to tell in the dark, even with the light of Keyleth’s fire winning its battle against the darkness, but Vex could have sworn she sees Lieve crying. 

“Yes. Yes, we did.”

...

Vex isn’t sure if it’s her personal observation bias kicking in, but the Raven Queen seems pretty miffed when they bring back the news of their incredible, probably miraculous, victory. 

She’s realized, with the help of her near death experiences and Percy’s panicked lecture after the battle, that she agreed to exactly what she didn’t want to agree to: a life for a life deal. Sending a mere mortal up against that _thing_ was a suicide mission but, you know what?

Vex won, so the Raven Queen can suck it. 

“I must say,” the Raven Queen sits stiffly before Vex on the previously empty throne in her temple, somehow looking at her with _disdain_ , despite wearing an unmoving mask, “that was an excellent performance. Better than anticipated.”

Vex doesn’t have time for the Queen’s wounded ego- the goddess could spend her entire eternity bemoaning the fact that a simple archer and her family could do in a single night what her paladins have been attempting for years for all she cares- she wants what she came here for and she wants it _now_. 

“With all due respect, _my lady_ ,” Vex does an overly dramatic bow, bordering on offensively sarcastic, “I’d like my agreed upon reward now, please.”

The Raven Queen sighs and looks almost sad, regretful, for a moment before the mask evens out and she snaps her fingers. 

Vax appears, stumbling and thankfully clothed in a black robe, in front of Vex. 

And she cries. 

And cries.

And cries. 

She hugs him and mutters nonsense sentences into his shoulder, alternating between scolding and celebrating. He just hugs her back, unwilling or unable to express in words what he can say with a crushing embrace. 

There’s a soft _woosh_ in the room as the Raven Queen vanishes, gone back to her plane. 

Vex pulls back but doesn’t let go of Vax, holding onto his arm as if breaking contact will make him disappear again. Under her touch, Vax is warm again, truly, honestly _alive_. 

Vax breaks the silence first. “You could’ve been killed.”

Vex recoils, offended that he would even _suggest_ something so stupid, so _hypocritical_ —

“As if that’s ever stopped you!” 

“Vex, you’re the only twin I’ve got-“

“And you’re the only twin I’ve got!”

“-I don’t want you sacrificing yourself for me. It’s not worth it.”

Vex rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, not happy being on the other side of the lectures she’s given Vax for _years_. 

“Of course it’s worth it! Besides it worked out, didn’t it?”

“But if it _hadn’t_ -“

“Vax,” Vex squeezes his arm, making him turn back towards her before he’s able to hide the tears in his eyes, and her voice softens, “You once told me the most valuable thing in this world is moments with each other. And you know much I love valuables. I couldn’t resist.”

Vax shakes his head, looking like he might argue more, but surrenders to the smile pulling at his face. He’s _back_ , he can’t waste any more time arguing (he knows he won’t win against Vex, anyway), not when he’s so blessedly _alive_ and free to spend as much time as he likes with his family. 

He’ll get to pet Trinket, drink with Grog, joke with Scanlan, talk with Pike, and tease Percy. 

He’ll get to see Keyleth again.

Vex must read his mind because she smiles too, pulling his arm to lead him out of the blood filled temple and towards the light of the doorway. 

“Come on, let’s go see the others.”

**Author's Note:**

> This has been in my drafts for ages but Search For Bob inspired me to finally finish it! I love character death fix-its (I'm a sucker for a happy ending no matter how illogical) but I hadn't written one for the first campaign yet and finally seized my chance. 
> 
> If you notice any inconsistencies in characterization or specific campaign details it's because I haven't actually watched the first campaign. I do my best with researching anything I'm unsure about, but I'm sure I missed some things. Hope I did the characters justice anyway!
> 
> I am, however, not ashamed to say I did very little research into D&D rules or spells or monsters for this- I just made some shit up. I don't have the attention span for all those manuals and articles.


End file.
